We ARE the Virus
by dzha4225
Summary: After Second Son, "Plague turn into new Conduit gene" theory. [PROTOTYPE] crossover. The RFI may have erased the normal Conduit gene from the Human gene pool. But after the destruction of the DUP and the freeing of the remaining "Conduits" that somehow stayed alive... It was discovered that the power wielded by the Second Sons are in fact, Contagious. Rated M just to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: Mystery of the impossible gene**

The Beast was history. As Cole Macgrath activated the Ray Field Inhibitor and erased every Conduit, active or dormant, from existence, the world have cheered for the eradication of the Ray Field Plague and the return of Normalcy.

However, the Normalcy did not last long...

As for better or for worse, over the next seven years, new Conduits, termed type II conduits, have started to appear once again on the continent. Starting with Abigail Walker in the city of Seattle, then with Henry Daughtry and Brooke Augustine, the number of them first sparse, and then start to explode like wildfire- As the method of testing the presence of what was believed to be a "Conduit Gene" using Blast Shards, was discovered, the DUP was formed in order to track the presence of the Gene, and to detain whoever tested positive of it's presence.

Initially, the population tested positive for the Conduit Gene was well under 1 10000th... But as time come by, just within the city of Seattle itself, Conduit Positives have risen from less than 70 to more than 760. New conduits appears, apparently unlocking their powers all by it's own, which includes Eugene Sims. The City of Seattle start to grow worried about the emergence of these new Conduits, and after another two years, the City of Seattle have underwent a total quarantine, what used to be called "Conduits", have now been branded as "Bioterrorists."

The emergence of type II Conduits have become more and more frequent in the following year. Brooke Augustine, seeing it as an opportunity to create Forced Conduits that would strengthen her rule behind the DUP, started to capture Conduit-Positives, using the Power Transfer Device to force her power over Concrete upon them, converting them into the DUP enforcers that chased and captured "Rogue" Conduits, or "Bioterrorists" mercilessly.

Trucks after Trucks, the caught and imprisoned type II Conduits was shipped out of Seattle, 15, 30, 45, 60, and have now risen toward near 360 known Prime Conduits being caught and sent out for detainment. The truck containing the 351th, 352th and 353th Prime Conduits caught and sent out of Seattle, including Henry Daughtry, crashes upon the Indian Reserve of the Akomish Tribe, and the 352th and 353th Prime Conduits escaped, while a local young man, Delsin Rowe, accidentally absorbed the smoke-and-ember-kinesis power of Henry Daughtry, starting the events of InFAMOUS Second Son.

**InFAMOUS: Second Son**

The 7th year after the RFI detonation event, with a total count of suspected Conduit-gene positive individuals reaching more than 1 percent concentration, The DUP, lead by Brooke Augustine, have finished fully developing their training program for the Enforcers. Worried as seeing people, both of the City of Seattle and of his Tribe being forcefully conscripted by the DBU and turned into Faceless Goons, Delsin Rowe used his new-found Conduit powers to infiltrate the city of Seattle, spreading resistance against the DUP while dismantling their surveillance and enforcement networks bit by bit.

New Conduits have popped out one by one in the entire U.S. Conduit Tests now returned Positive on more than 2 percent of all population of the United Stated. Multiple DUP- controlled cities declared quarantine, as they feared another Outbreak of "Bioterrorists" within their borders.

(InFAMOUS: Second Son- Canon route and ending)

As the secrets of Brooke Augustine is finally fully exposed, being a Conduit herself that wanted nothing more than absolute power over everyone else, every previously caught and Imprisoned Conduit was released while the DUP was dismantled by the angry mob who imprisoned her inside her own slab of Concrete by the aid of Delsin Rowe. A brief era of coexistence between Humans and Conduits have started.

Returning to his tribe, Delsin Rowe used the powers he absorbed from Brooke Augustine to cure the tribe members of their disability- while accidentally awakening two other type II Conduits within the Akomish Tribe. Total concentration of known Conduit-Positive individuals within the Population of Seattle have reached 3 percent.

Returning to Seattle, Delsin Rowe started to follow the Paper trail toward what was fabled as the legacy of Cole MacGrath- and it was revealed that the Ray Field Plague may have mutated- instead of killing non-Conduit people, it turned normal people into Conduits instead. However, as the Ray Field Plague was thought to be the result of radiation poisoning, the results is dubious at best, and may have been completely wrong.

More and More Conduits have awakened. Which includes Richard Lawson, whose elemental power was the control of Light, and Den Tenebris, whose elemental power was the control of Darkness. By the time, the total known Conduit population in Seattle have reached to almost 1225- almost twice of what would be expected to be the result of an un-affected Conduit Gene, let lone the one that was supposed to go extinct after the RFI went off.

**5 months later.**

Richard Lawson, zipping through Interstate 66 faster than a commercial jet using nothing more than sunlight as power, met his old brother Michael Lawson down in Los Santos California. He was trying to know what happened to the city of Los Santos after the destruction of the DUP and the freeing of the Conduits- unknowingly to him, his arrival have triggered another outbreak within Los Santos, and at least 4 different type II Conduits have awoken due to his presence, with more than 29 people becoming Conduit Positive from his arrival.

Den Tenebris, siding with Delsin Rowe in an effort to find out the truth about the RFI and the Conduits (causing Delsin to wield darkness-related powers as well. At least during this mission.), entered Los Alamos just east of the state of California. Sneaking into a lab apparently abandoned by the First Sons when the RFI went off, more and more of the details about the "Cole's Legacy" was revealed- apparently, an organization called Blackwatch, which was one of the United States' top secret military departments, have studied the Ray Field Plague long before the Beast and the RFI, and have already developed a vaccine that rendered 99 percent of all Human subjects tested on it immune to the effects of the Plague. Almost two weeks before Cole's final battle with the Beast.

Delsin: "So... They already had a cure?"

Den: "Yes. It was apparently so. It appeared to be something that attacked a biological pathogen. But with majority of the Ray Field Energy and the Plague now gone, we have no way to confirm this."

Delsin: "You mean... Cole's near eradication of the entirety of our kind was in vain? The Plague could have been cured even without the RFI at all?"

Den, using his control of Darkness, written onto the dimly-illuminated floor of the lab in shadow: "Yes."

Delsin, graffitied onto the somewhat-visible beam of a local street light: "Blackwatch will need to pay for this."

**5 days later, New York**

Richard Lawson, Delsin Rowe and Den Tenebris have arrived, day after night, toward the once-burgeoning city that was now the center of a plague that nearly wiped out the entire city' population. The Plague, of course, was gone. But the broken buildings and the scattered bodies have all told a story of horror, death and destruction 7 years and 8 months ago. The city was never rebuilt- and all the corpses, who have died during the Plague, have somehow remained completely Intact, without weathering or rotting, in all this years.

Delsin approached one of the bodies- and to his surprise, a stream of what looks like blue dots of energy have spontaneously emerged from the body, and entered Delson's body.

"Raycite." Said Delsin.

Richard Lawson, with a large glowing "?" appearing on top of his head: "What is it?"

Delsin Replied: "It's a Blast Shard. A concentrated form of Ray Field Energy. I absorbed a lot of them from DUP drones and Core Relays when I was busy exposing them in Seattle. It grants Conduits new or improved abilities when being absorbed."

Den Tenebris approached another preserved, dead body, and the same stream of Blue Energy have emerged from the corpse and entered Den's body.

"It's so weird... but I could definitely feel my energy capacity and limits increase after absorbing this 'Blast Shard'. Though we do know that, from the data we collected in Cole's safe house in Seattle, that the Detonation of the RFI device should have erased it's existence. The Blast Shards should not exist in this world since the RFI detonation 7 years ago."

After being absorbed by Delsin and Den, the two preserved bodies started to crumble, and soon disappeared into nothingness as the crumbled remains appears to have _DISSOLVED _into the air around them.

Delsin Rowe: "But then the DUP should also not have the shards to arm their drones- shards that I clearly absorbed and used to develop my Smoke, Neon and Video power when I was using them in Seattle."

Richard Lawson: "And the bodies should have decayed away lone before. It appeared that the Blast Shards was the factor that have preserved them. I believe that the Shards may have a relation with the Plague, since they all appeared within the bodies of Plague Victims. I think that we need some friends to take the bodies to a proper lab for further research."

Delsin Rowe: "And I had the perfect choice for this."

**One week later.**

Eugene Sims: "Why bring me here?"

Delsin Rowe: "You know about Blast Shards right? Conduits absorbs these shards as soon as they touch or go near one of them. So neither me, Lawson nor Tenebris could move any of the bodies without destroying them. And we need the bodies to find out what have happened during the Plague and the RFI event that caused the formation of these shards. And their connection to us type II Conduits that shouldn't have existed if the RFI worked as it supposed to. They may be the key of Improve our understanding of our Powers. And may strengthen them if used properly. Your power was digital materialization right? Which is exactly why I need you."

Delsin touched Eugene Sims, and summoned a large Staff of sorts made from pixels. He proceeds to prod at another preserved body a few times, confirming that the body could be moved without the Blast Shard that seems to be maintaining the bodies being absorbed and causing the bodies to crumble away.

Delsin: "Do it as I says."

Eugene Sims summoned a long Hook made of pixels, and proceed to grab the body with it. Delsin changed his staff into a long-handled shovel, and as the two Conduits carefully _Pulled_ and _Pushed _the body out of it's way and across the ground, the mysteriously preserved, Blast Shard-bearing dead body is eventually transported onto an operating table in the makeshift lab Richard Lawson and Den Tenebris have set up.

Delsin: "You take the cut."

Eugene Sims forms a long-handled scalpel with Pixels, and start to carefully cut into the body itself. The innards of the preserved bodies looked nothing like Human tissue- bits of blue, energy-emitting material could be seen dotting an amorphous matrix of sorts.

"Richard, Light. Den, Lens."

As Eugene Sims carefully picked up a small sample of the tissue with his scalpel, Richard Lawson produced a concentrated point of light, while a gravitational anomaly have appeared on top of the makeshift "slide" that the tissue sample was resting upon. The lens was a Mutation Power of Den Tenebris- after absorbing a few Blast Shards within the bodies during their first visit to New York, Den Tenebris apparently have learned to _Bend _light using his Darkness-manipulating powers, instead of just canceling it out. Den Tenebris called his new mutation "Singularity". Which is in fact the Mutation Power of the other Conduit that have helped Delsin in the overthrowing of the DUP- Abigail Walker.

The light, after passing through the Tissue sample, gets focused by the gravitational lens, and is projected onto a piece of broken wall that was used as one of the support structures of the makeshift lab.

Delsin Rowe: "Cole MacGrath was Right."

The other three: "What?"

Delsin Rowe: "Cole MacGrath was right that we are the result of the Ray Field Plague mutating after the RFI have been detonated, and Blackwatch was right that the Plague was caused by a virus. More specifically, we ARE the virus."

The projection on the wall showed an aggregate of crystal lattices composed of what looked like thousands of viral capsids that were composed of a material that is almost identical to that was being released when a type II Conduit uses his/her power. More specifically, the material was Concrete. The power of the used-to-be DUP leader Brooke Augustine.

**1 day later. Dr Bertrand****'****s lab, Ruins of Empire City**

Pushing apart the rubble in front of the entrance to the underground lab, Delsin Rowe revealed a machine, a bit like an x-ray machine, lying on the center of the lab.

"This is a Ray Field Energy Scanner. Machines like this were used to screen for Conduits and Plague Victims during the era of Cole MacGrath and the Ray Field Plague. The machine takes a scan of the body of anyone standing in front of this detector, and displays the result on the screen. Yellow shows the presence of the Conduit gene. Red shows the presence of the Plague Pathogen."

In order to show the machine is working, Delsin went out of the lab, brought in a feral cat that wandered around the ruined city, and took a scan of the cat. The screen lights up, and it showed the skeleton of the cat in x-ray- nothing unusual or strange can be seen.

Delsin then stood in front of the detector, the feral cat ran away as the machine took another scan. This time, the entire shape of Delsin Rowe, including clothing and accessories, was displayed as a blood-red silhouette on the screen- no bones, no organs, no tissue. Just red indicating the presence of Plague Pathogen.

Eugene Sims was the second to step in front of the detector- and the same thing happened. Just a silhouette of red that represent the entirety of his being, clothing and all. Richard Lawson and Den Tenebris did the same, and the same thing resulted.

Delsin Rowe: "We are not the survivors of the Conduit Race. No. we are the survivors of the Plague. And the RFI and Cole's sacrifice was completely in vain. "

Richard Lawson: "What?"

Delsin Rowe: "This was what every of us type II conduits really are. A sentient Virus that took the shape, personality and memories of the formal human host that was infected by it. A mutant strain of the Plague Virus that survived the RFI detonation. We ARE the Plague."

Eugene Sims: "But... that can't be possible- The time I got my powers I was still myself... Same love for video games, same love for junk food, same everything."

Delsin Rowe: "Think of your powers. My Powers, Abigail Walker's, every type II Conduit had the same four basic powers that only differs in the specific element one uses to manifest. A fast travel ability that allows you to turn into your corresponding element and run on walls, dash in midair, run through porous obstacles, etc., as well as propelling yourself midair with said element. A Melee attack using the corresponding element, a Projectile attack using the same element, and an area-of-effect attack that fires a projectile that explodes into a burst of the corresponding element. My ability is copying the powers of other Conduits- I knew this very well."

Richard Lawson: "Maybe it's just a coincidence- after all, every one of us had some sort of Mutation power that is not part of the basics, right?"

Delsin Rowe: "But it makes no coincidence when EVERY Conduit I met have started with exactly these four basic powers- mutations come later. These four basic powers were the transmission traits of the virus itself! You see, a successful virus needs to be able to spread to places that are very far away- hence the fast travel abilities that allows you to cross obstacles with ease. Again, a virus can't go too far if the host was killed easily, hence the enhanced melee attack. Projectiles of course allows the virus to be transmitted across distances, and what's better than a cloud of splashed elements when it comes to transmitting a pathogen to a large amount of potential hosts?"

Richard Lawson: "But how could elements transmit a virus/pathogen? For example, my element is light, Den Tenebris' was darkness. We recharge our powers using these elements present in our surroundings- surely it can't be a kind of living thing, be it viruses or other pathogens?"

Delsin Rowe: "Did you ever see light of this intensity that can be used to exert physical force upon objects? Or darkness that carries actual energy? Darkness itself is a _Lack_ of energy. It can't carry any energy by itself. So there must be something else that does the energy transfer within the "Darkness" elemental power. And the Ray Field Plague was no normal virus either- it was the result of a microbial organism being exposed to Ray Field Radiation and a certain trait within it causing it to interact with elemental substances and use it as a part of their biology- just like the Conduits of the old times. The elements we are using, the lights, the smoke, the neon, the pixels, and the shadows, elements that seems to defy the laws of physics that governs the actual form of that element, they were all variations of the capsids of the viruses itself! The more we use them, the more we transmit our viruses to our surroundings- which is a trait that would benefit the virus itself."

Den Tenebris: "Isn't the Ray Field Plague extremely deadly? Then why we comes to survive, and even using the virus itself as superpowers? Surely viruses can't be this kind toward it's host?"

Delsin Rowe: "Viruses are organisms that are controlled by genes- and genes are replicators. Genes does not have a purpose of their own, and their sole purpose is to survive and produce offspring- the same thing applies to the Ray Field Plague virus itself- the Virus itself does not have a set goal, emotion or a sense of morality- it just evolves to have the traits that are best suited for it's survival and reproduction. The ones that are able to reproduce best survives, while the ones that can't dies out. Virulence itself is a negative trait for viruses- Viruses need a host to survive and replicate, and a virus that killed it's host quickly have less chance of spreading. Natural viruses develop virulence only because of the chance that the Host's immune response will eliminate it if it does not consume it's prey quickly- a concern that is not present for a super-powered virus that can bypass all immune systems as we know it. The original Ray Field Plague killed it's host quickly only because the Conduit-physiology of the virus itself and the structures it makes in the cells they infect was not compatible to the Organic-physiology of the cells themselves. Imagine setting fire to or dropping concrete into the bloodstream of a normal, non-Conduit Human. The Human will die, while if he/she was an active Conduit then the elements would be controlled and no longer result in death. Hence the Immunity of Conduits against the Plague."

"And from the files we find in the archives left behind by the First Sons, this mutant strain somehow solves the issue with Incompatibility- it converts the physiology of a Human host into that of an active Conduit, or that of the Viral infection itself. While it does so it confers the same sort of physical traits of the Conduits- like great resistance or quick healing, which manifests on Conduit-positive individuals that increases in activity with time. Once the conversion is complete and the nervous system is converted into viral physiology, the host Consciousness is able to control the element conferred by the viral physiology as well as the mature viruses themselves, awakening the host as a type II Conduit. Of course, a mature type II conduit is a much better transmission vector for the Virus than what few micrograms of debris and secretions that are released only when a Plague Victim dies like the original version did."

Eugene Sims: "But it still didn't solve the issue with the RFI. Which was supposed to erase every bit and trace of the Ray Field Energy on the earth- and as we know from the plague being cured by the RFI, the Ray Field Plague virus can not survive without Ray Field Energy. And also, why bother for a healing factor? The lack of need for normal food or air? Or the other traits of Conduits like super-strength or super-resistance? Most importantly, if the 'Me' as a type II Conduit is a sentient viral entity, how I am still myself after the Awakening? I certainly feel still being myself after all this."

Delsin Rowe: "If the RFI is so thorough, then how did the DUP gets it's Blast Shards and Blast Cores that are used to establish surveillance on our kind? The answer is the same- when encased within solid matter, like Raycite, Ray Field Energy is impervious toward the effects of the Ray Field Inhibitor. We believe that, when the RFI was activated, it killed most strains of the Ray Field Plague virus by depriving it the necessary energy it needs to function, curing the Plague. However, according to recovered Blackwatch files, certain strains of the virus, specifically the strains that forms membrane-bound compartments that isolated the Viral machinery and Conduit physiology from the rest of the Cell, survived in the same way Blast Shards and Blast Cores survived- the compartmentalized structure forms a barrier that protects the virus within from being drained of energy and dying. And it was the very same trait that allowed the Human physiology of a partially converted host to be compatible with the element-based Conduit physiology of the virus- Host cells are first converted from the cytoplasm out, carefully keeping the critical cell Nucleus and cell Membrane to be converted last. Upon excitation by a sufficiently large impulse of Bio-electricity, like that of a strong emotion event, the Nucleus and Cell Membrane is converted by the Virus using that energy, awakening the host as a type II Conduit."

"And for why the person that got infected and converted is still the same person? A person's Memories, Personality and Consciousness, the things that makes You, You, is fundamentally encoded as the pattern and density of the neuro-electric elements on the membrane of the neurons in your brain, as well as the structure and proximity of said membranes toward each other. When finally maturing and awakening the Host as a type II Conduit, the virus fully replicates and recreates the structures and surface patterns of the neurons themselves, as well as reproducing the Bio-electricity as flows of the specific element of that Virus-Host complex. So of course you is still you- it just changes the substrate you are based upon."

Den Tenebris: "And I'm still confused- why a deadly virus would mutate into what is essentially a new Conduit Gene? It makes no evolutionary sense."

Delsin Rowe: "Remember that we are not just some unlucky host that gets Infected with the Virus- we ARE the virus. The mutated version of the Ray Field Plague virus that grants us or powers are fundamentally, still a virus- a virus that is unable to reproduce outside of it's host. Although it converts the cellular structure of it's hosts into a structure that is encoded within the virus itself, it can not carry the resulting structures with it- just like the cells of a type I Conduit can not produce Conduit powers on their own, the viraly encoded cell structure of a type II Conduit can not support the replication of the Virus when scaled down to fit inside the viral capsids themselves. The Virus need Ray Field Energy to survive and reproduce- and the only way to generate Ray Field Energy is to first convert a source of energy into neuroelectricity of a Human-like mind, and then converting the neuroelectricity into Ray Field Energy. Just like the Ray Spheres did, or what was done subconsciously by type I Conduits when they are 'recharging' using their corresponding elements. The virus need our minds and physiology to survive- and that is why making it compatible with human physiology during initial conversion turned the used-to-be-deadly virus into a new Conduit Gene. The Healing Factor? The cellular structure of type II Conduits like us are composed of the same elemental substances we use in our powers, and we can control these elements according to our will. Controlling the elements to patch up the broken/missing parts of our bodies is as easy as using any other powers we have, and the Virus does it subconsciously- repairing even clothing and accessories given an ample supply of our corresponding elements. The ability to transform into the element of our power and squeeze through spaces that isn't normally passable? Remember that our elemental powers are manifestation of our viruses, and we ARE the virus. Transforming into the element we use and performing actions with it is just as easy as performing any actions with our limbs and bodies."

Eugene Sims: "But at least the Plague Virus itself have became Benign after the RFI detonation event since me Eugene Sims is still myself. So Cole's effort and sacrifice is not completely in vain."

Delsin Rowe: "And the hope of Human Evolution was not completely lost. If we could figure out exactly how this Virus works and how we could take the advantage of the virus itself... Then we could still make our way through the Great Filter by continuing the next evolution of Humanity as it was destined."

Den Tenebris: "Or never supposed to. Since we have yet to find any aliens yet. Let alone super-powered aliens."

**Seattle, 2 days later.**

"What do we do next?"

"We gather as many active type II Conduits as we can into the small area within the city- once a critical amount is reached, the combined radiation from all the active Conduits would spread the new Conduit Gene into all normal people within the area, maturing them quickly and turn them into new type II Conduits. Which would accelerate the process even further. The process repeats itself, and soon every human on earth will be converted... Free of death, diseases and the bodily needs of mortal beings like the victims of the Old Plague..."

A new era of Evolved Humanity have started.

CODEX: Type I and II Conduits

Conduits, Bioterrorists, Ray aberrations, Mutants, whatever they are called, are Human-like individuals that wields seemingly supernatural powers over a specific substance or phenomenon due to their interaction with a kind of radiation known as Ray Field Energy. According to their origin, they could be roughly subdivided into Prime and Forced Conduits- Prime Conduits awakens their powers naturally from a variety of reasons, while Forced conduits are created through a transfer of power from a Prime Conduit. The potential of an individual becoming a Conduit is largely governed by a factor that was known as the Conduit Gene... However, the reality is far from being this simple.

Type I Conduits, or Natural Conduits, are the result of a rare, 1 in 1000-th pre-existing factor within the Human genome, known as the Conduit Gene, being exposed to Ray Field Radiation. The Conduit Gene in Humans encodes a specific mutant protein on their neuron membranes that interacted strongly with it, which grants them the power over a specific kind of substance or phenomenon. Type I Conduits are capable of greatly enhancing their metabolism, strength and durability to supernatural levels through skillful manipulation of their respective Elemental particles. However, they are still Human physiologically, and Can become disabled if they were damaged badly enough. Type I Conduits, alongside with the Conduit Gene, were presumably extinct after the disruption of Ambient Ray Field Energy followed by the detonation of the Ray Field Inhibitor in the New Marais Event, which presumably deprived them of their necessary life-energy and caused the death of all Individuals, Dormant or Active, that bore the type I Conduit Gene.

Type I Conduits require significant training to control their powers, and being a random phenomenon, every Type I Conduit is unique in the manner they control their elements.

Type II Conduits, or Viral Conduits or simply The Virus or The Outbreak, on the other hand, was the result of a mutant strain of a pre-RFI Pathogen known as the Ray Field Plague Virus that nearly wiped out the entire population of the East Coast. Originally, the Ray Field-Enhanced Pathogen reproduced inside their host cells, while doing so converts parts of the host's Cellular physiology into that of a Conduit's, imbuing elemental manifestations into the Host Cell Biology. However, since the biochemistry-based physiology that of a Human cell is radically different from that of the Elemental-based physiology of Conduit or Viral Physiology, this conversion triggered rejection reactions that quickly killed the host despite the pathogen itself not having any traits of Virulence encoded within it's genome, leaving the pathogen barely enough time to spread. Since the detonation of the Ray Field Inhibitor, and the subsequent usurping of all Ambient Ray Field Energy within the earth-moon system, majority of the Virus died without a source of energy to reproduce, curing the Plague. However, it was believed that in Some of the Plague's former Victims, the Virus have mutated the strategy of isolating the parts that are already Converted from the parts that are still Human, keeping the Host alive until a Type II Conduit is born. This trait is also believed to confer resistance toward the energy of the Ray Field Inhibitor, allowing this mutant strain to survive after the RFI Detonation Event in a manner that was similar to the mechanism of which Blast Shards survived Detonation.

Unlike Type I Conduits, Type II Conduits possessed the same set of four basic powers that are basically an elemental reskin of the same thing(s): Mobility, Melee, Projectile and Area-Of-Effect attacks. They had the unique physiology of being literally composed of the elements they control, and utilizes these basic powers almost Instinctively, though Mutations and additional powers are possible through training, or absorption of additional Ray Field Energy such as Blast Shards or Blast Cores.


	2. Chapter 2

**Episode 1: Blackwatch, the Outbreaks, and a time of turmoil**

"Just within two weeks." General Randall initiated his briefing.

"Three Outbreaks have happened. First in Seattle, then in Los Santos. Now it's within New Marais again. Each time the outbreak let loose another swarm of Bioterrorists escaping from the half-eaten ruins of the former cities. With our cover operation the DUP now downed we could do nothing to stop the outbreak!"

"One Hundred percent infectivity. Infected eventually turn into super-powered elemental embodiments that feeds on the same sort of matter they are seen using in their powers. And they are known to eat and use _EVERYTHING_. Every substance that was known in our databases seems to be able to become the element of one of the Bioterrorists' powers. Electricity. Paper. Concrete. Dirt. Metal. Rocks. Sand. Neon Signs. Shadows. Video signals. Light itself. Embers and smoke. Reports said that there were certain breed of Bioterrorists are seen absorbing, and using, Flesh itself as the element of their power. If the virus is allowed to get out-of-control there will soon be no Civilization left. The entire earth could be eaten by the infection. And we would lose all of our political powers ever and forever if these super-powered viral beings are allowed to take over the world." A scientist-looking person delivered his briefing- and to everyone's surprise, the figure was Joseph Bertrand III- the Swamp Monster Conduit that should have died during the RFI event 8 years ago.

"Luckily. The Infected and the Runners are still considered Conduits- they reacted to Blast Shards just like the Conduits used to before the RFI went off. I managed to survive because the Blast Shard I kept on myself. And they are now preaching the Un-godly doctrine that the Viral infected was the new direction of Human Evolution! Bull s**t! Conduits, or Bioterrorists, or Runners, can only cause Chaos!"

General Randall replied: "Could the Ray Field Inhibitor still work on them? We still had that technology. And since they are Conduits in nature-"

Joseph Bertrand III: "No- I have tried. The energy of the Blast Shards and the blast Shards themselves are immune to the RFI's effects. I had taken a sample of their virus and tested it before- and it reacted to the RFI's energy exactly like a Blast Shard- which meant that it did nothing. They have evolved resistance to the weapon that nearly wiped out their kind."

Robert Cross: "Then it's time for Plan B."

Joseph Bertrand III: "What's Plan B."

Robert Cross took out another Blast Shard, and produced a diagram of some form of devices- a device that resembled superficially to that of the Power Transfer Device that was used by the DUP Brooke Augustine. "We use this." answered Robert Cross. "You Joseph Bertrand III had an ability of mutating Conduit-positive civilians into Corrupted that works under your will- aren't you?"

Joseph Bertrand III: "Yes, but I have never used this ability any more. Isn't this Conduit madness over yet?"

Robert Cross: "The Virus, when during it's early incubation stages- when it have yet to turn it's host into a type II Conduit, could be subverted- the DUP have proven that during their rule under Brooke Augustine, which subverted the Virus as Forced Conduits that worked as enforcers. As the total concentration of the Virus (and dormant type II Conduits) have reached more then 10 percent in the general populace of the East Coast, You could just use the Power Transfer Device to mutate as many of the population into Corrupted under your control- fighting the Virus with the Virus."

"When we hunt, we kill! No one is safe! Nothing is sacred! We are Blackwatch! We are the last line of defense! We will burn our own to hold the red line, it is the last line to ever hold!"

As the Blast Shard is inserted into the Power transfer Device, and the ominous machine starts to power up with a mild hum, "Test Subjects", which were captured Conduit-Positive people of the East Coast that were put in cages in the range of the devices, start to mutate- first grow in size, then spikes come out of their bodies, and finally become nothing more than violent, mutated monsters. The Corrupted have been reborn.

"Stop!"

As Joseph Bertrand III Commanded, the Corrupted suddenly stopped their violent activities, and rested down within their cages.

"Leave! Find and catch as many Conduits as you can and bring them to me!"

The doors of the cages opened. And the Corrupted monstrosities, barely Humanoid in their forms, marched out, silently, from their cages, up the staircase, and out of the secret Blackwatch base.

**In Seattle.**

It have been two weeks after the Delsin Rowe- Orchestrated Seattle Outbreak converted every inhabitant of the city into a Type II Conduit. After an initial Rampancy that consumed nearly 2 3rd of the city's building materials and an efflux event that sent thousands of active Conduits roaming away from the city, the population, now well-fed, have started to rebuild. Abigail "Trace" Walker, while performing her usual daily routine in decorating the city with Neon-colored art, met one of the new Type II Conduits, a cheesy youngster named Steve "Pariah" Nivens. Who was a geneticist... and got "Computer" power instead. Literally. Steve "Pariah" Nivens' power was the ability to absorb and control data from computers. He did develop hacking as a mutation power, and gained the ability to travel through internet wiring as a stream of data. Otherwise... Steve Nivens is no more different from another reskinned knockoff that was basically every one of the Type II Conduits that now inhabits the half-eaten half-rebuilt city. Seeing him forming a speech bubble above his head sending her a request, Abigail "Trace" Walker changed her path, and a bent trail of neon gas went straight toward the data-juggling biology nerd himself.

Within the secluded, rebuilt lab that was created by Steve "Pariah" Nivens with the help of a certain tall black man (Falcon from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) who had "Glass" powers, Abigail "Trace" Walker met one of her old friends down here. Richard "Illumination" Lawson, one of Delsin's squad members and an old friend of Walker when he joined the team after the defeat of the DUP in the quest of spreading the Type II Conduit powers to all of Humanity, was right here.

Steve Nivens: "We need to collaborate on something."

Abigail Walker: "What?"

Steve Nivens: "A week ago, After plowing through the Internet using my powers, Richard and me found out the fact that, ever since the Outbreaks, none of us Type II Conduits have ever became pregnant. Or given any births. We suspect that Type II Conduits are sterile, most likely due to our Viral nature making traditional forms of reproduction impossible."

Richard Lawson: "Which is really bad if we were to continue reproducing as an independent species if all Humans are converted or killed. Upon realizing this fact, we founded this laboratory in an attempt to find a solution to this problem if we wish to reproduce."

Steve Nivens: "I am actually a geneticist- though the Virus don't have any sort of preference-based-on-knowledge, and wound up giving me Computer related powers instead. We are currently conducting certain genetic tests on the virus- and we need a female Type II Conduit to actually conduct ... reproduction-related tests themselves. It's all voluntary- If you don't want to collaborate, we could just tell others the truth and find someone else that is willing to conduct the tests with us."

Abigail Walker: "Since we are friends and teammates... I would collaborate on this one. Just be Gentle right?"

**5 days later**

Steve Nivens have assembled a device of sorts. Which have been seen sitting in the center of the laboratory. "This is a Ray Field Manipulator- After a detailed research on our Healing Factor, we believe that the Virus' healing process could be Subverted. This prototype tilts the energy field of a Type II Conduit so that the viral Healing process is shifted toward a location that is outside of the Conduit's body- effectively creating a clone of the original Conduit at the altered location. What's the element you recharge on?"

Abigail Walker: "Neon gas. Specifically Ionized neon gas like what is found in Neon Signs. Why?"

Steve Nivens: "The process that creates a clone is identical to the innate healing process of the Type II Conduit himself/herself- and recreating an entire body would require a lot of elemental energy."

"I would tell him to get some."

Steve Nivens took out his phone and called Falcon. 5 minutes later, a tall black man came gliding down using a pare of transparent, glass-like wings. Which quickly retracted and dissipated as he lands on the balcony in front of the lab.

Steve "Pariah" Nivens: "Did you get the material I needed?"

Thomas "Falcon" Wilson produced a large flask filled with what seems like a glowing, gaseous substance. "Right out of the source. Be careful- it's till hot."

"Test 1 initiated- Walker, keep absorbing as much of the neon gas as you can as I point the business end of the device toward you- you may feel something weird, or nothing at all, but it's OK- just keep absorbing and maintain your energy level at full until I tell you to stop right?"

Steve Nivens points the device toward Abigail Walker, as pink, neon-colored energy start to come out from the flask, into Abigail's body, and then come out toward a specific location. A shape of something started to form, and keeps becoming more and more solid as the pink-colored energy keep pumping into itself.

"60%. 70%. 80%. It's working- 85%. it's Close- 90%. Come on-"

The energy suddenly stopped entering the location, the shape of energy exploded into a brilliant burst of pink-colored Neon before being reabsorbed into the body of Abigail Walker. The device is knocked over and was smashed on the ground by the powerful explosion, while everyone inside the lab is violently thrown onto the walls of the small room.

Steve lost a bunch of energy, but quickly came back up. Falcon hit the window of the lab and promptly absorbed some of the shattered glass. "Abigail Walker, Are you OK?"

At the center of the blast, Abigail Walker stumbled a little, before turning her face toward the two dazzled males. "I'm fine. In fact, I feel more powerful than ever before!" Abigail thought of rising up, and pink colored energy thrusts out from beneath her arms propelling herself upward- before she suddenly hit the roof of the lab, and left a Walker-shaped hole in it.

Steve "Pariah" Nivens took a quick note: "Initial attempt at reproduction through relocated healing failed- however, the excessive Ray Field Energy that was generated during the initial energy conversion process seems to have strengthened the Conduit that was being tested."

"Oh. It's back to the drawing board."

**The Monster of New York Zone**

Alex Mercer was one of the plague victims that nearly died during the Plague's near total holocaust of the New York City. However, in his dying thralls, a wave of Blue energy swept across the dead city, and Alex "Zeus" Mercer found himself to be able to control living matter at will. A Plague mutation, one in 5 million in chance, have struck Alex Mercer- the specific element of the Virus that infected him was Biomass- living materials, like flesh and plant matter. And the Virus had the mutation that isolated the converted parts of his body from the Human part of his body. The former means that he got to live until the RFI went off as Biomass don't reject Biomass, and the latter allows him to become a Type II Conduit by granting resistance to RFI energy and awakening his powers as the extreme surge of energy from the RFI detonation finished the conversion process.

Waking up from the mass grave that used to be the Plague Ward of New York City after unknowingly absorbing a few dead bodies in his way, Alex was confronted with an apocalyptic scene. Dead bodies- millions of them. All fell victim to the plague before the RFI could cure them. And all of which contained a shard of Raycite- a Blast Shard that was the crystallized remains of the Deactivated Plague Virus inside the dead bodies.

Roaming the ruins of New York City, now designated New York Zone, Alex "Zeus" Mercer soon found himself being able to absorb the Blast Shard-bearing bodies to maintain his energy and become stronger.

This continued for 7 years and 10 months. Until the Corrupted came.

Alex "Zeus" Mercer almost thought that he have been transported into another Video Game.

Using the Biomass melee attack- a massive, 5 feet razor-sharp Clawed hand which he could summon from his right hand, Alex "Zeus" Mercer tore through a Corrupted Worker with ease, absorbing it's Biomass to fill up his energy reserve.

And there are hundreds more Workers, "Hunters", and even a Hive Lord coming to him.

Alex "Zeus" Mercer grinned. And barrages of tendrils and flashes of blades tore through the horde of Corrupted that tried to hunt for and catch him..

**Seattle.**

Steve "Pariah" Nivens: "If my knowledge and power could not solve this problem... Then I knew someone who can _DEFINITELY _solve it." Calling someone named "Zeus" on his contacts, Steve "Pariah" Nivens started to prepare the lab for the arrival of a literal sentient Biological Virus that were also known as the Monster of the New York Zone.

A mass of tendrils that was barely humanoid in form crept through Interstate 55 at a speed faster than a passenger jet, as the Monster of New York Zone held onto the sign of civilization and moved toward Seattle.

"So I'm not transported into the other Game is I thought was. Then."

About 3 hours later.

As the mass of tendrils re-materialized into the figure wearing a black jacket and hood renown as the Monster of New York Zone in front of the laboratory, Alex "Zeus" Mercer was greeted by Steve "Pariah" Nivens, Abigail "Trace" Walker and the other members of the Team. "Is this your power? Like. Tentacles?"

Alex Mercer replied: "I'm what you actually wanted to be as a geneticist- My power was Biomass. The control over all materials of biological origin, live or dead."

Steve Nivens: "I called you for a reason that matters the future of all Conduits like you and us. You see, about two weeks ago we discovered that among all Type II Conduits, none have ever became pregnant nor have delivered birth. Which means that we are likely naturally Sterile. We believe that, by manipulating our healing factor, we could achieve a form of reproduction- Especially since we can neither mate with Humans nor getting their trust, which means that we would likely go extinct if this issue is not corrected."

"And you are a geneticist- actually, a better geneticist than me, which have also been given powers over biological matter. So i think that you may be able to help us."

Alex Mercer: "And I have a even worse news to deliver for you. We suspect that Joseph Bertrand III was not quite dead, and/or that Type I Conduits were not quite as extinct as we thought they were.- I fought my way out of New York Zone against mutated monstrosities that were superficially similar to Bertrand's Corrupted that plagued the East Coast before the RFI went off. And they are now coming back to get each and every one of us."

Steve Nivens: "And that is why we are a Team- With enough brilliant minds nothing is impossible. And... I also need to contact Delsin Rowe first- He had the best knowledge about the Virus in every and all of us."

Delsin Rowe, from the other side of the phone call: "What? You had an idea about the fertility issue?"

Steve Nivens transformed into a blur of noisy data and disappeared into his phone. 2 minutes later, Both Steve and Delsin have reappeared in front of Alex Mercer and Abigail Walker in the lab, materializing from streams of noise and data that came out of the Phone.

Alex Mercer: "Is Delsin the same as you?"

Delsin Rowe: "No. I can absorb and copy anyone else' power- so technically yes for this moment. It also allow me to Fast Travel together with anyone if needed."

**1 week later**

"This, is what I called, the Conjugation Method." Alex "Zeus" Mercer held up a small vial of something in front of the team's eyes.

"After our collaborative research, and quite a few explosions, we discovered that it's not the idea that cloning a Type II Conduit by subverting and tilting the viral healing process toward a location outside of their bodies didn't work- It was just that this process could not be accomplished just by one Conduit himself/herself. It turned out, due to a certain limit in reproduction by assembly- the same sort of limit that was imposed in Quines of computer programming. In order to reproduce a Conduit from scratch, at least Two Conduits have to work together so that each one of them will not need to reproduce 100% of the offspring's body structure. Each of the parents would need to just reproduce a part of the Offspring's physical structure, which is possible. And by letting each parent produce a different part of the offspring's physiology, it's now possible to reproduce the complete physiology of a Clone Type II Conduit through combined effort."

"This vial contains a retroviral agent that modifies the genetic structure of the mutated Ray Field Plague Virus, or the Conduit Virus as we call it. It allows the Type II Conduit healing process to be temporarily tilted toward a location outside of the body of a Type II Conduit affected by it with minimal training- Once released, it's function will appear as a mutation power of any Type II Conduit that is being affected by it. You should be able to use this function once I open this vial. Make sure you are fully charged when you do it- Although it's now physically possible, this process will still require a lot of energy to actually perform." Alex "Zeus" Mercer opened the vial, and the contents seems to evaporate- diffusing the retroviral agent through the air in the lab, and soon be outside. "Once released, this modification would spread across the entire globe within 2 weeks. And hopefully, our kind will be able to reproduce soon after."

Steve Nivens: "Test 65 initiated. Materials- set. Delsin Rowe, you stand on this platform. Abigail Walker, you stand on this platform. Activate your newest mutation power and focus on the third platform- and make sure to recharge using the prepared materials as the process unfolds."

Just like the original tests with the Ray Field Manipulator, Neon gas started to be absorbed into Abigail Walker's body from the large flask, while streams of data starts to come out of the console behind Delsin Rowe and enter his body as well. The elements then comes out from the bodies both of the couple, and as the elements focused onto and condensed in the space above the platform between them- a Humanoid shape start to appear from inside the whirlpool of the mixed elements.

"60%... 70%... 80%... 85%... Common!"

"90%... 95%... 97.5%... 99%..."

The shape become more and more solid, until a burst of elements suddenly exploded from the central platform, and condensed into a fully clothed, 21-year-old girl that appeared out of nowhere and landed onto the central platform- Confused, but definitely live and well.

"It Worked!" The Conjugation process worked!

The 21-year-old-looking girl suddenly spoke: "My name is Abigail F. Shepard, nice to meet you my friends."

As a test to ensure that the process does not just transported someone else here instead of creating a new Individual, Steve "Pariah" Nivens asked cautiously: "So where did you come from? Who is your family?"

"Abigail F. Shepard" answered: "I am Akhomish, and my father is Richard D Rowe, my mother is Dana M Walker..."

Steve "Pariah" Nivens: "It looked like the memories of the result is all jumbled up- she had the memories of Delsin, and the personality of Abigail, and a copy of Delsin's and Walker's experience in the Team... It looked like that the mixture of duplicated memories have created a new personality in the resulting Individual. And it looked like that the result included subconscious personality traits of the parents as well. Gender selection is random- not an Androgynous mixture of parental traits as I expected. The Cerebral Homunculus theory was correct in this way... I have to test her for powers- the viral nature of such reproduction process and offspring should make her an active Type II Conduit at birth."

Steve "Pariah" Nivens asked the result: "By the way, why Shepard?"

**5 Days later**

Delsin Rowe: "No powers? Why?"

Steve "Pariah" Nivens: "It looked like that the virus inside her body is jumbled up- It may take time for her mixed viral strain to adjust. But she is definitely Conduit Positive. It may take some time for she to awaken her powers. Not sure what it will be though. Nearly a month of research on the Conduit Virus and still no idea how the virus chooses the element of it's powers when a Type II Conduit awakens."

**Nearly 2 months later**

Alex "Zeus" Mercer have went back to New York Zone to hunt Corrupted and collect Blast Shards. Steve Nivens have sided with Richard Lawson and Thomas "Falcon" Wilson to uncover more secrets on Blackwatch, the origins of the Conduit Virus and the reemergence of the Corrupted. (Thomas's Glass powers prove incredibly useful when lenses are needed for more thorough examinations on the various traces the team of three have collected. So does Steve's powers over Light.)

There have been "births" (or rather creation of new Individuals) within the three major Conduit Cities- It looks like that Alex Mercer's solution- the Conjugation process, have worked. However, the general populace of these three cities are still quite worried, as all the new Individuals are born without powers. Until now.

Alex's phone rang.

Delsin Rowe: "I think she had powers!"

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "Did she awaken as usual? Or the viral strains have stabilized?"

Delsin Rowe: "I think it was a new Awakening... Her powers are unlike anything we have ever seen. You may have to see it yourself."

Abigail F. Shepard can be seen jumping up and down across the top of Seattle's buildings- and trailing behind her was a literal mix of elements: Whirls of Wind carrying pieces of Concrete, with points of Light and Pixels dotting in between. Shepard landed on a rooftop for a break- before she put her hands onto the metal railing on top of the building, and the metal could be seen Melting down and being absorbed into herself. Shepard jumped off the roof, a liquid-like _Streak _of stainless steel raising from under her feet propelling herself into the air, before she came down to a graceful landing on the ground with a roll- which happen to put her right in front of Delsin and Alex which have barely made here in time.

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "It looks like her power was the ability to absorb and control _EVERYTHING_... What kind of monster we have created..."

Delsin Rowe: "No, I think that she is just an exception- half of her Viral Strain and memories came from me after all. Mine which is the ability to absorb and copy the powers of any other Conduit on touch. A power over everything... It looks just like a logical next step from mine."

Alex Mercer: "Any way, how about the other Created Individuals? Did they have strange powers? Or how their powers are related to their parents?"

Delsin Rowe: "Not yet. None of the other Created Individuals have awakened yet. So we still have no way of knowing how they would develop."

**Feb 17****th**** 2020**

Fourth and Fifth Outbreak happens in the city of Oklahoma and the city of Dallas as the concentration of Conduit-positive individuals in the U.S. reaches over 17 percent. As nascent Type II Conduits traveled out from the Los Santos and New Marais to tour the continental United States using their new-found powers, Type II Conduits, or "Runners" as called by Blackwatch, reached critical concentration within the state of Texas and the state of Oklahoma, causing the same sort of runaway Ray Field Reaction as happened in the previous three outbreaks, triggering the Oklahoma and Dallas Outbreaks that turned every inhabitant within the two cities into a Type II Conduit.

As the Conduit Virus spreads through the Continental U.S. in an atomic chain reaction, causing Rampancy and remodeling politics and technology everywhere it spread to, Blackwatch forces made the decision to isolate and quarantine the 13 Founding States of the United States- the entire East Coast, from the rest of the U.S.

Within the thirteen isolated states, or the so-called Blue Zone, Conduit-Positive Individuals are ruthlessly captured and converted into Corrupted monsters by Joseph Bertrand III using the Power Transfer Device, which are then sent to the central United States- "Yellow Zones", in an effort to stop, or at least slow, the advancement of Type II Conduits and the inevitable demise and replacement of "Pure Humans" to the ever growing population of "Bioterrorists".

**Mar 1****st**** 2020**

Joseph Bertrand III rises to power in the Blue Zone as he mastered the Corrupted power of Shapeshifting- and replaced the current president of the United States with one of the Corrupted agents of his own.

The Conduit Rights Association was formed by newly awakened Type II Conduits within the city of New Vegas in the Blue Zone, which questions the Bertrand Government's and Blackwatch's negative perception of the emerging Type II Conduits, citing the successful reproduction of Type II Conduits within Seattle and Los Santos through the use of a unlockable "Mutation Power" as being the evidence that Type II Conduits are in deed the next Evolution of Humanity. Graffiti with wording like "The RFI is a total failure" and "Your Kesseler's and Joseph Bertrand III's efforts only delayed the inevitable" have popped up in the city of New Vegas.

Blackwatch released files about their research on the Viral nature of Type II Conduits in the Blue Zone to instill fear upon the public. The Conduit Rights Association cites the technological advancements and medical benefits this alleged "Virus" could bring to society as a counter-argument to the Blackwatch file releases. Propaganda posters and billboards with the face of the current U.S. President are defaced to reveal the hidden connection of Joseph Bertrand III to the Corrupted.

**Apr 2****nd**** 2020**

Second Created Individual, Elamo "Tommy" Puerto awakens his powers over Machinery and moving things in the city of Los Santos. It have been confirmed that a Created Individual awaken their powers just like a Converted Individual- the element of their powers are chosen randomly, chances of which is related to the total concentration of different possible elements surrounding the Individual during his/her creation. Just like the Converted Individuals. However, the element of choice awakened in Created Individuals appear to be also influenced quite strongly by their parents- there is significant chance that the Offspring's element of power would be related to the Parent's element of power, in addition to the process of selection-by-concentration innate to all Type II Conduits.

Certain Created Individuals have been confirmed to be manifestations of Subconscious personalities of their parents, explaining the apparent "Genetic Discrepancy" of certain Created Individuals to their parents.

The Majestic Twelve was formed by twelve former University of Washington PHDs who each had the power over a specific chemical typically found in University labs. It have been discovered that the Viral particles that forms the powers of Type II Conduits reacted similar chemically to the element they manifest as the Conduit's powers- potentially allowing chemical reactions to be used both as a powerful tool for technology development of the Conduitkind and a deadly weapon in the fight against Joseph Bertrand III and his Corrupted.

Alex "Zeus" Mercer, the Monster of New York Zone, who hunted down Corrupted within the city ruthlessly and ate their essence to become stronger and stronger, have turned his focus into exposing the connection between the Corrupted and Joseph Bertrand III that currently rules the Government of the Blue Zone. In response, the Bertrand Government labeled Alex Mercer as a member of the Corrupted, almost nullifying his efforts in exposing them.

**Jun 4****th**** 2020**

As the total concentration of active type II Conduits within North America reached critical concentration of over 4 percent, a chain reaction of accumulation-outbreak-dispersion converted nearly 97 percent of all individuals within the Red Zone of the West Coast into active type II Conduits, turning the rest of the population, which includes nearly the entirety of the Yellow Zone of the Central United States, into Conduit-Positive carriers of the Conduit Virus. the historical period, known as the Rampancy, have begun.

As majority of the ruling elites escaped the Rampancy into the Blue Zone under the rule of the Bertrand Government and Blackwatch, the intrinsic conflicts between the Ruling Class (which happen to also include the surviving population of Type I Conduits that only survived due to having a Blast Shard on their person when the RFI went off) and the now super-powered used-to-be Ruled Class is elevated into an all-out war between the power-hungry Old Elites trying desperately to hold onto their waning political powers and the freedom-loving New Conduitkind that wants their only ruler to be their own selves.

Non-Powered individuals start to become scarce in the Red Zone, and what used to be the Norm have become the freaks, while what used to be the Freaks have become the Norm.

Amid the chaos and the Rampancy, a conspiracy brews deep down the secret bases and hideouts of Blackwatch and the lairs of Joseph Bertrand III's Corrupted...

Nothing this old and established like the secret societies that was the hidden ruling elites of every established government in the entire world, will ever meet their end peacefully without a bang.

CODEX: Converted Individuals and Created Individuals

Due to the viral physiology of Type II Conduits, the traditional concept of Sexual Reproduction and Population Genetics is not applicable toward the emergent species known as Type II Conduits; Which forms the faction known today as the Conduit Nation and the majority of the West Coast/ Red Zone population.

Since the introduction of reproduction by conjugation into the Genome of the Conduit Virus, and by extension, the general population of Type II Conduits, members of this emergent species could be roughly classified into two categories: Converted Individuals and Created Individuals.

Converted Individuals are the Individuals that are created through Baseline Humans that are infected by the RFI-resistant Ray Field Plague Virus, better known as the Conduit Virus, and awakens as Type II Conduits either naturally, or as the result of prolonged exposure to the radiation generated by a large concentration of previously-active Type II Conduits during an Outbreak. Converted Individuals physically resembles the Baseline Humans before they are Infected and Awoken, with all physical features including clothing and accessories integrated directly into the resulting Viral entity- All Type II Conduits regenerates their clothing and non-biological components with an adequate supply of their corresponding elements as if they are part of their biological bodies. The element of Converted Individuals are largely dependent on the specific concentration of elements in the local environment where they are first infected- Generally, the higher the concentration an element/substance is around them during Infection, the higher the chance that the powers of a Converted Individual will be of that specific element.

Created Individuals, on the other hand, refers to the Individuals that are created through the duplication and mixing of Viral tissue and mental components (memories, personality, skills, etc.) by the use of a process known as the Conjugation Process. The Conjugation Process, initially developed as a mechanical device that tilts the natural healing process of Type II Conduits to a location that is outside of their own body in order to create clones of the Individual (which failed), but later integrated into the genome of the Conduit Virus itself as a Mutation Power that allows multiple Type II Conduits to work together in the creation of new Individuals (Which was successful), duplicates and mixes the genetic and mental signatures of the Parent Individuals to create a new Individual that possessed traits of the "Parents" that were involved in his/her creation. Despite generally being composed of a mix-match of appearance, memory, skill and personality traits that came from all the Type II Conduits that were involved in his/her creation, there is a small chance that a Created Individual will not resemble any of the Parents and takes on a completely different appearance and personality that was instead based on a subconscious/alternate personality of one of the Parents. Despite possessing the enhanced physiology and healing factor of a typical Type II Conduit due to being composed of the same viral structure as the Active ones, Created Individuals does not possess the equivalent Elemental powers at birth, and will have to awaken it months or even years after his/her creation, in a process that is identical to that of a Converted Individual. The element of a Created Individual is partially influenced by the "Parents" that are involved in his/her creation, but the parental influence is only partial and non-definite, with new, completely out-of-place mutated powers often appearing in them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Episode 2: New Conduitkind, The Conspiracy and preparing for the Corrupted Wars.**

**Jul 1****st**** 2020**

As Joseph Bertrand III let out a deafening roar in his giant mutated Conduit Form, the ground of New York Zone shook and opened to reveal nearly a million Corrupted Monsters-both large and small, highly ranked and lowly ranked. As they left their hideouts, thousands of soldiers wearing a black uniform, with masks for face and blue glow all over their bodies, poured out from structures and bases that were not even registered on the maps previously and joined the march of the Corrupted- Out of the Blue Zone and into the rest of the United States.

"We will burn our own to hold the red line, it is the last line to ever hold!"

"Death to the Ray Aberrations!"

Some of the Type II/Viral Conduits, or Runners, have traveled outside the United States in bits and trickles- and the result was another outbreak in Mexico City, and a sudden increase of Conduit-Positive population in many locations in Canada and South America.

**Jul 2****nd**** 2020** **Houston, Texas**

A young black guy, Liam "Force" Kosta, standing on the wall on top of the former NASA command facility building, dialed on his phone as hordes of monsters could be seen coming from the east of the city- The Corrupted have mobilized, and was on an unstoppable march westward in an attempt to wipe out the emerging race of Type II Conduits. The last ditch effort of the political secret societies and Blackwatch in their desperate move to hold own their political power in a changing world.

"I'm Liam 'Force' Kosta of the Conduit Right Organization calling every Runner on the continent for help- The Corrupted have mobilized- I REPEAT, The Corrupted have mobilized! And they are currently raiding the Yellow Zone!"

**Just like when another sentient virus in another universe did when Nature tried hard to maintain her political power, so did the New Conduitkind in this universe- they mobilized, resisted, and united under a single cause that was to usurp the rule of Old Nature on Earth and survive whatever this dark universe throw at them.**

"This is Delsin Rowe of the Akhomish tribe in Seattle. And I am the cause of all of this. 8 years ago, You know what happened. The Ray Sphere, the Plague, and then the enormous energy surge from Cole Macgrath and the RFI cured the Plague and supposedly eliminated every Conduit in the entire world, dormant or active."

"Of course it did not play out the way it was supposed to. Just 4 years ago, the Seattle Government assembled what's known today as the DUP, the Department of Unified Protection. And their Enforcers had the same powers as the Conduits, which were supposed to go extinct. And their target was active Conduits- something that were supposed to never exist after the claimed event."

"Then you know what happened next. A year and a half ago, a transport carrying captured 'Bioterrorists' crashed near our Indian Reserve. I touched one of them while the other two escaped, finding myself to be one of them- with the ability of absorbing and replicating the powers of other Conduits by touch."

"Realizing the reality to be very different from claimed, I went to Seattle, where I met Abigail 'Trace' Walker and Eugene Sims. We then realized the true nature of the DUP and exposed their purpose in front of people's eyes. The DUP was dismantled, their leader, Brooke Augustine was caught and got what she asked for as a Conduit herself. I returned to my tribe and cured their disability using the powers I got from Brooke Augustine. You know, the reason why we are called the Second Sons."

"However, after that, more and more Conduits popped up. I met the other two members of my team Richard Lawson and Den Tenebris. Then Thomas "Falcon" Wilson. We learned about the Plague and the mechanism of the DUP's Conduit Test from the Heritage left from Cole MacGrath following the Paper Trail, which we conducted on samples of the local population and found out that the population of potential Conduits are Increasing. So we went to the origin of the Plague, the New York Zone, where we conducted a series of tests on our impossible Conduit Factor and met Alex 'Zeus' Mercer, telling him that he did not get transported into another video game."

"And it's through the further tests conducted using what's left of Bertrand's lab at Empire City did we finally realized what we actually are- the children of the Plague rather than the children of the Conduits. We learned about the presence of Blackwatch and went back to New York Zone to retrieve a secret document of their research on the Plague and the new, or Type II Conduits that pops up like mushrooms after a rain after the RFI event 8 years ago. And we discovered the fact that Joseph Bertrand III, the man who was actually behind all this chaos, was still alive."

"And worth off, he have already succeeded in his plan of getting to the top of the Political Power in the entire United States, possibly the entire world. And he want all of us, _DEAD_."

"That's the reason why we spent this entire year amassing in numbers and triggering Outbreaks. We Type II Conduits by ourselves are never strong enough to defeat the Corrupted or any of the Prime Type I Conduits that survived the RFI blast- But with each new friend and every new teammate we get exponentially stronger. Our powers are complementary toward each other- just like what Alex 'Zeus' Mercer and the Majestic Twelve discovered. With each new Power and new Element we unlock more potential of chemical reactions and technology- Technologies that was the only _REAL _difference that separates a sentient virus from an animal."

"The Corrupted have been mobilized. Old Nature have dished out her trump card against us. Here I call every Type II Conduit in the world, Runner or not, to unite under this common goal of fighting for our own survival and the defeat of the Corrupted conspirators that used to rule the world. The age of Nature is ending, and the Age of Technology have just begun."

**One week later**

Joseph Bertrand III : "Yellow Zone reclamation- 24 percent. So far only Runners have been encountered- difficult to kill, but nevertheless easily defeated with concentrated Corrupted attack. It's the time to show them the _REAL _power of the Corrupted."

On the ruins of the New York Zone, twisted, abominable fleshy structures have risen from the ground, as the Corrupted grouped together and merged into each other, then into the constructs themselves. The Constructs grew larger and larger... before large, yellow-colored glowing pustules start to appear near the bottom of the structures, which soon bursts to reveal other Corrupted: Spikers, Ravagers, Gasbags and even a few Hive Lords and Devourers. There were no Swamp Monster however- the Swamp Monsters was considered a waste of Biomass for what they could do.

Steve "Pariah" Nivens, looking down from a satellite that happened to move across the New York Zone, took a few records, before returning to Seattle as a stream of data.

Steve "Pariah" Nivens: "It's really bad." Before taking out a few photographs of the New York Zone taken from the advantage point of the Keyhole-22 Satellite.

The photographs showed that there were constructs of sort- Constructs that were not seen before in the New York Zone.

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "What was it?"

Steve "Pariah" Nivens: "Readings suggest that these Constructs... Or, rather, Hives were composed of an unknown form of organic matter. Or Biomass. Readings suggest that they were likely powered by Raycite. Or Blast Shards. The dots near the structures were all high-ranked Corrupted. And the hives are either assimilating Corrupted Biomass into themselves, or are making Corrupted out of their Biomass."

"Oh no. They were making Corrupted like ant queens pop out eggs." Steve "Pariah" Nivens corrected himself after reading through a few additional photographs.

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "And judging by how the Type I Conduits are known to utilize the radioactive energy from Blast Shards... These Hives won't need additional Biomass to continue producing more Corrupted. As long as the Type I Healing Factor were still there for them to use."

Abigail F. Shepard: "We know about what we are capable and what we aren't as mere individuals as I was one of the most powerful type II Conduits that could be, being on par with Delsin Rowe. And I knew very well that this isn't something one Runner of a small team of type II Conduits could handle on their own. Delsin, Trace, Zeus, Falcon, Pariah, Richard, Tenebris. And we will need many more of us for us to have any chance in defeating Joseph Bertrand III and his crazed crusade for 'Nature'."

**First stop- University of Washington, the Majestic Twelve.**

Abigail F. Shepard: "So this was the University of Washington. It looked... changed."

What used to be the University Town have now been turned into a stronghold- it looks like that the Majestic Twelve have knew about the Corrupted's Conquest of the rest of the United States and have Fortified their own hideout with...

"PolyDimethylSiloxane. Polyacrylamide. Agarose. Magnesium Metal. DeoxyriboNucleicAcid. What's this fluid... Tris(Hydroxymethyl)AminoMethane in HCl. It looks like it was mostly HCL. Poly(n-Butyl (2-Methyl)Acrylate). Gold on a cleaved Mica substrate. Pure Platinum...WTF? And it looks like that someone tried to build something with Sodium. Or Sodium Hydroxide since that was all that was left."

Swinging herself over a slightly shorter part of the wall, Abigail F. Shepard entered the Majestic Twelve's Hideout. Which quickly got splat onto with a large blob of Alginate:Ca2+ coming from one of the University buildings.

Abigail F. Shepard: "Relax- We are not Corrupted- and we need your help to actually defeat them!", Before a blob of Bromine was splattered onto Alex "Zeus" Mercer, who have responded by catching the blob with a shield created from Biomass. Which is now melting away as Bromine reacts with Biomass and dissolves it.

Delsin Rowe: "We need to see your leader."

Apparently, the person within one of these buildings recognized Delsin Rowe being one of the "Invaders", and a small door (which looks like it was made from Aluminized Polyester A.K.A Mylar) was opened on the bottom of what used to be the Chemistry Building of the original University of Washington campus.

**Chemistry Building, University of Washington**

As Delsin's team enters the Chemistry Building, more and more strange things showed up: pools of Liquid Bromine and Metallic Mercury could be seen replacing water within the decorative ponds and waterfalls within the hall of the building, Hydrogen and Helium fills the top part of the room with what looks like electrical arcs through the various gaseous elements providing light. The walls appeared to be constructed out of pure metals- Iron, Zinc, Aluminum and Titanium, with trimmings of Copper and Gold decorating the walls. Abigail "Trace" Walker, first did not notice about anything, but later finds out that the Ground below her was actually composed of a lattice-work of Graphite, Silicon, Red Phosphorus and Amorphous Boron, with "Gems" of yellow Sulfur and metallic Arsenic dotting the seams. The Furniture appears to have been changed as well- the cubit, crystalline design was clearly composed of Bismuth, and what looks like the top surface of the desks and chairs was created from a gray, oxidized metal- Magnesium metal. Pipes made from Platinum and Zirconium could be seen used as the "legs" of some of the desks.

Due to losing a lot of energy in the way in from the attacks of the over-reacting guards, Abigail "Trace" Walker instinctively absorbed some of the ionized gasses from just below the ceiling, which was composed of an unknown metal or metallic mixture.

Delsin Rowe: "Hello? Are there anyone here?"

The large throne at the end of the Hallway turned toward the visiting party, and a black, hairy male greeted Delsin's team from the Iridium and Uranium Glass throne.

And the appearance of the figure surprised everyone in Delsin's team. "CaptainSparklez? Why you? Aren't you supposed to be a video game youtuber? Why are you now ruling whatever strange kingdom of sort in a College? Aren't gamers generally illiterate and hate academics in general?"

And the black male, wearing his iconic paper 3D glasses over his forehead, replied: "Isn't this entire world now a Video Game? I was on my post-graduate project in the University of Washington which I was forced to do by my parents, before the 'Outbreak' came as claimed by the University's TV outlets, and I and many of my colleagues in the same lab suddenly finds out that each of us had control over a specific chemical element. The others got control over other chemical compounds- mostly solvents, polymers and the other bulk chemicals that were used in the labs. My real name was James D. Norlan, but I don't think that name would be needed anymore since my parents have probably died from the Rampancy or have been turned to one of the Corrupted by Joseph Bertrand III as they lived in the Blue Zone. Now they all call me Captain 'Fluorine' Sparklez instead."

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "Okay, Captain 'Fluorine' Sparklez, So, what's the rest of the Majestic Twelve?"

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez: "They were all there, minding their own business in the Chemistry building. You know, maintenance jobs and technology development. They were all nerds- and the first time they got their powers they just went full Geek on this. Of course none of them are able to solve the mysteries surrounding the 'Outbreak' on their own. Or how did _EVERYONE_ in the so-called Red Zone suddenly got the alleged 'Conduit Gene' which were supposed to go extinct."

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez dialed a number on his phone, and what looks like gateways soon opened on the metallic walls of the hall they were meeting in.

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez: "Let me introduce to you, all the 12 major members of the Majestic Twelve."

Henry "Proton" Cavendish: "I am the most abundant element in the entire universe! Just call me 'Hydrogen' for the rest of your journey. My element was Hydrogen. The same stuff 1 8th the weight of Water was made off. I help clearing out water in our little kingdom... you know, Conduits and Water don't mix."

Pierre "Sun" Johnson: "And I am the second most abundant element in the universe... Just somewhat rare on Earth. Just call me 'Helium' as my element is, you guess, Helium. The same gas you find in Balloons. I help providing physical support and aerial coverage for the Majestic Twelve."

Johan "Rocks" Arfwedson: "I am the element you find in your phone batteries. Or Tesla batteries. And the reason why I am not allowed to use a smartphone like other ones in the University uses as I can not suppress the urge to eat the lithium out of it. I am in charge of electricity generation in the Majestic Twelve- the electrical arcs you see illuminating this building was created by me. Or at least with the aid of a certain person known as Carl "Flames" Scheele."

Louis "Saccharin" Vauquelin: "Just don't touch me- my element may give skin rashes to a certain type of Prime or Forced Conduits. Or outright kill a Baseline human by contact. My element is Beryllium. And I am one of the reasons why you don't find emeralds around in Seattle. Any way, I compete with Rocks and Luminous for the brightness of the intensity light I could make using my powers."

Humphry "Wildfire" Davy: "I am green- yet I am neither cool to the touch nor hypocritical like the other 'Greens' in the Blue Zone. They call me Wildfire because my element burns green and makes a lot of heat when burned. You guess it- I am Boron. The same chemical element you find in both Roach Killer and Rocket Fuel. I want to be the Pyro for the Majestic Twelve- but the others who needed me mostly simply want to use my element to stick things together. Collaborating with you may help alleviating this."

Laurent "Universal" Lavoisier: "Don't piss me off Alex 'Zeus' Mercer- I could suck the very being out of you in a whim of thought, as I controls the Element of Life- Carbon. I did most of the Construction work once the Majestic Twelve decided to take University of Washington for ourselves. Both for providing construction materials as Graphite and for cutting through things as Diamond. I also forms the most diverse of all chemical compounds in the entire universe. I dare the Corrupted to challenge me."

Daniel "Breathless" Rutherford: "I am Nitrogen. And I love to be just myself. Don't expect to drain me as long as I have access to air. I help to keep everything within this building and the Campus from reacting with itself and exploding- Yet I also help creating the most used explosives in the entirety of our little kingdom. Though others just use my abilities on the Highly Explosive side... and they _NEVER_ leave me alone, nomatter how I complained."

Carl "Flames" Scheele: "You have just heard the testimony by Lithium, Beryllium and Boron. Possibly Hydrogen and Carbon or Magnesium. Yes, they had great powers with their highly volatile/energetic Allotropes and/or Compounds they could form- But none of them could use these reactions nor powers by themself without the presence of my element in the air around them. My element is Oxygen- and fires goes where ever I go. Even a single spark could be turned into a massive crater if I happen to have a bad moon or be near. As long as you bring something flammable to burn with."

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez: "And I am the king of all Chemical Elements- Atomic number 9, mass number 19 and a love for electrons from everything. While Oxygen could only accelerate fires, I can set fire to anything I want- Water and Concrete included. Or I can coat something with my element and make it impervious to corrosion and chemical-based attacks. I don't use my powers often- but recharges are certainly quite cheap at least for me. Like Glowstone in Minecraft. Of it's counterpart in the Real World- Fluorite. I can also greatly enhance the fire-related properties of some of the other members of the Majestic Twelve like Hydrogen, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Sodium or Magnesium. Which is why I became the leader of this place in the first place."

William "Inert" Ramsay: "Except for me. I am an Inert gas just like Helium, so I don't react to Fluorine. And because I can be found in the air, I don't have to worry about recharging like the 'Second most abundant element in the Universe' just above me. I provide the gas for lighting up the University of Washington while Lithium and Oxygen (Or Fluorine) provides the electrical power that is needed. I don't think I had any weakness against anyone."

"Except for me- I can absorb you once you are ionized through some means. Which is prettymuch the only way you could perform any form of real attack." digressed Abigail "Trace" Walker.

Humphry "Volatile" Davy: "My element makes the food you eat taste salty... Oh, I forgot that Type II Conduits don't eat in the usual way. In salt form, I dissolves in water. In pure form, I reacts with water explosively. Yes, I know that Conduits of any kind, both Type I and Type II, generally don't play nice with water. But don't know how did the RNGs wind up making me entirely incompatible with it- even moisture in the air hurts like Caustic Soda. Oh, wait a minute, Sodium reacts with water to form Caustic Soda... Luckily, I don't have issue with recharging as most materials burn yellow when placed into a flame- an evidence of the material's Sodium content. And you won't need Cobalt Glass for further identifying the composition of your sample in a flame test once I glide any pa `rt of my body across it. Anyway, I am the other one in the Majestic Twelve who can produce explosions without Oxygen- I can throw sodium toward water, and it will explode and rain death upon everyone in it's vicinity- Humans and Conduits alike."

Joseph "Luminous" Black: "Just call me 'Magnesium'. Don't worry about the 'Black' in my full name. I used to be the Brightest element in the Majestic Twelve- until Beryllium come alone and stole my fame with her 22.45MJ*Kg^-1 reaction with Oxygen gas- the most energetic reaction in the entirety of chemistry. However, as my element is much, much, cheaper than the other two, I still got the job as the mobile light provider and one of the many material providers for Fluorine's small 'Kingdom'. About 2 3rd of all the furniture you see in this building was made by me."

Delsin Rowe: "That's... Plain... Weird..."

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "You totally didn't recruit the entire Periodic Table of the Elements to your faction, right?"

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez: "As a matter of fact, I did!"

CODEX: Festival Of Blood: Naming Type II Conduits

The Name of a Type II Conduit, unlike that of a Type I Conduit which inherits that of Baseline Humans, differs from that of a Baseline Human by one and exactly one word- Unlike a normal Human name which consisted of a Given name and a Family name, the name of a Type II Conduit contains an additional "title" which identifies the nature of the Elemental powers of the Individual.

Inactive type II Conduits, both Conduit-Positive Converted Individuals and nascent Created Individuals are named the same way Baseline Humans are named- which is often subjected to change as the various Viral traits within the new Individual reconciled and stabilized, resulting in subtle yet remarked subconscious changes- a common phenomenon of transferring a mind from one substrate to another. There may also be a chance that the Hair, Skin and Eye color will change during late states of Conversion, especially during the Activation process where the Individual awakens their powers.

Once the incubation period finishes and the Type II Conduit is activated, the Individual is given a title depending on the element of the Conduit powers the Individual awakens- which is normally called between the Given and Family name of said Individual. Unlike the Given and Family names which are partially inherited from their parents if Created, the title of a Type II Conduit is not inherited- While the name of a Created Individual is derived from the memory fragments the parents put into their creation, their title are derived in the same way as a Converted Individual- From the element of their powers once they are awakened.

It's not uncommon for certain features of a Type II Conduit's clothing to change according to their mood and affiliation states- as the clothing of Type II Conduits are a part of their own bodies which heals with their "biological" components when damaged, it is too subjected to the same effects one's mental state can have on the more traditional parts of their bodies- such like hair, eye or skin color, or the color tint of their powers if such a tint is applicable.

CODEX: Second Son: The Karma System, R and K affiliation

An interesting fact about most Conduits, Type I or Type II, are the fact that they are physically affected by the way they handle their everyday lives- Emotions, Mood states and moral choices affect their appearance and powers in ways that could be largely directed in two directions on a continuous spectrum, which got it's name, ironically, from a certain system in an old Video Game.

For Type I Conduits, the spectrum they are affected by their morality was based on the moral standards of Baseline Humans- "Good Karma" and "Evil Karma", which could be accumulated by performing their respective choice and accumulating their respective moralities. Generally, "Good Karma" improve the accuracy and precision where the Type I Conduit utilizes their powers, while "Evil Karma" improve the energy and destructive potential one's powers can have. Type I Conduits gain Karma through actions that are traditionally associated with "Light" and "Dark" in the alignment system of Knights of the Old Republic.

For Type II Conduits, however, the spectrum they are affected by their way of action was instead based on the two different evolutionary strategies their particular viral strain could take- "K Affiliation" and "R Affiliation". Analogous to "Good Karma" and the "Evil Karma" of the Type I Conduits, "K Affiliation" improves the accuracy and precision one may have in controlling their powers, enabling the use of non-lethal restraining attacks- maximizing efficiency in converting existing hosts at a cost of transmission of the Virus to potential hosts; While "R Affiliation" improves the range and raw power of a Type II Conduit's elemental powers, enabling powerful AOE attacks toward all targets within a certain range- maximizing spread of the Virus to potential hosts at the expense of risk killing a few existing hosts in the process. Type II Conduits gain Affiliation through actions that are traditionally associated with "Paragon" and "Renegade" the affinity system of Mass Effect.

Generally, a Conduit that is affiliated with the upper left part of the Alignment spectrum will have their optical emissions blueshifted to a cyan-blue tint, while a Conduit that is affiliated with the lower right part of the Alignment spectrum will have their optical emissions redshifted to a orange-red hue. This effect is purely cosmetic, and is in no way an indicator of their Strength and Abilities- Different Karma/Affiliation are simultaneously strong and weak in different ways so that neither is generally stronger or weaker than the other, and it often happens that Conduits of opposite Alignment have to team together and cooperate in order to best utilize their strengths and compensate their weakness for any particular task.


	4. Chapter 4

**Episode 3: The Corrupted Wars (For Real!), and the perfect Cliche Storm** **Yellow Zone, Empire City**

Corrupted Devourers hulk across the ruined city, Spikers and Ravagers functioning as foot soldiers while Gasbags moved across the ruins, exploding the soon they find something that was still standing- Trying to chase any Runner out from their hideout, if any. Hive lords could be seen in the background- And the telltale blue glow on their bodies indicating that a Blast Shard or Blast Core have been used in their construction as a power source, allowing them to synthesize Biomass and pop out Spikers, Ravagers and Gasbags apparently out of nowhere.

So long in Joseph Bertrand III's conquest of the western United States, little resistance have been met- the Yellow Zone was primarily Conduit Positive, with Type II Runners only appearing sparingly as the population naturally awakens. And the resistance encountered by the Corrupted so far was minimal. Mostly new Runners thought they could save the world by themselves against the Corrupted as the Invasion look _REALLY_ like the other two video games about Superpowered "Humans" fighting a hive-minded biological faction of The Virus. And the large concentration of Conduit-Positive individuals within the Yellow Zone gave The Corrupted an nearly unending supply of new recruits to converted into more of the higher-level Corrupted.

Except that this situation is about to change. Right. Now.

**Saints Row 4: Viral Transformation vs The Virus**

A Spiker patrols the outer edges of what used to be the Empire City, looking for more victims to bring back to the Hive Lords and convert to more Corrupted, and for more hiding Runners to catch and kill.

And the Spiker's routine ends right now.

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez: "First Stop- Empire City. Preliminary satellite reading suggest that the Corrupted have already set up a hideout somewhere within the Empire City. No. Wait. There is already a Hive inside Empire City right now."

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "And it looked like that The Corrupted still can't understand the fact that Mooks are little more than convenient health packs for the Big D**n Heroes. I see a Spiker here. Easy Biomass for me."

Delsin Rowe: "And you should remember that we are strongest when working together right, Zeus?"

Delsin and Zeus each held onto one of the Spiker's limbs- Delsin formed a giant arm Blade out of Biomass, while Zeus summoned his Clawed hand. With a synchronized slash, the Spiker was effortlessly cut in two halves, black fluids spills out from inside of the Corrupted. Delsin absorbed one half of the Spiker, while Zeus absorbed the other half.

Abigail. F. Shepard: "Don't leave me behind- leave some for me as well!"

Shepard didn't get the Biomass of this particular Spiker, but she do wind up absorbing some of the black "Blood" left behind by the carnage- Which she quickly fashioned into two wrist-mounted daggers so she have a mean for defending herself in a close-combat situation.

Captain "Fluorine" Sparkles and the Majestic Tewlve: "And don't forget about us, either! Helium, Magnesium, Carbon, Flight Form!"

A large structure that looks like a carriage of sort emerged around Delsin's team- frame and support structures formed from magnesium metal that emerged from Magnesium's hands, then transparent panels of Diamond filled into the gap. A large balloon/gas bladder, composed of what seems to be a single, continuous sheet of Graphene formed on the top of the Carriage, which soon filled up with helium gas as Helium entered her business position. The structure lifts off the ground, and as the passengers of the Flight Form is lifted up higher and higher into the air, the entirety of what used to be the Empire City is now in the view of Delsin's team and the Majestic Twelve.

Wings made of what appeared to be Carbon Fiber emerged from the sides of the Flight Form, and as they started their synchronized flapping, the large, helium-filled structure gained airspeed and moved, and the team soon arrived onto the top of the highest still-standing skyscraper within Empire City. The large structure dissolved into nothingness as the Majestic Twelve canceled their Flight Form, and from the advantage point of the top of the Skyscraper, Delsin's team and the Majestic Twelve could see that, multiple large, organic, structures, resembling Zerg hive buildings from StarCraft, have emerged in multiple places in the Empire City. And one is just below their feet as they looked down.

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez: "Find your elements and recharge right now- It will be a tough fight once we come down there."

_-Now Playing: DM DOKURO: Heaven__'__s Hell-Sent Gift_-

Hydrogen recharged her element on the concrete lining the top of the building- It turned out that there were Hydroxyl groups from the Water that was used when the Concrete is first poured- which contain hydrogen. Helium left the top of the building- before returning with a few leftover cylinders of balloon gas- the only major source of it in most city environments. Lithium obtained a full recharge using the crumbled concrete fragments left from Hydrogen's draining of the Water content of the Concrete, so did Sodium and Magnesium. Beryllium did not get any recharge- what he did manage to get comes from the Magnetrons of all the microwaves left inside the residential areas of the skyscraper. Boron also left the building, and came back with hands and face full of powdered laundry detergent. Carbon wend down the building and tore apart a few Spikers and Gasbags- After all, Biomass is mostly carbon. Nitrogen and Oxygen, sister and brother, did nothing as they constitutes 78 and 21 percent of normal air- no recharge was necessary. CaptainSparklez himself absorbed a few wisps of Fluorine from what seems to be Fluoroapatite that was left in the composition of most form of Cement, topping himself off as only a small amount of it was used as fuel when the team Fast-Traveled to Empire City. Neon did nothing, and Abigail "Trace" Walker siphoned off some of the ionized plasma that comes off her head as William "Inert" Ramsay extracted her element from the air.

_-Now Playing: DM DOKURO: Pest of the Cosmos-_

As the team topped off their reserves, Delsin Rowe and Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez discussed how they should attack the Hive just beneath their point of hideout.

Delsin Rowe: "We can't do this separately- from Communication signals intercepted by Steve 'Pariah' Nivens, it looks like that there were multiple attempts where a Runner have attempted to attack hives like this one. None of them succeeded- the Biomass of any one of the Hives are simply too big to be completely destroyed with the energy reserves of even the strongest of all Type II Conduits. And anyone who have attempted to destroy one of these Hives without cooperation was likely completely destroyed-literally dissipated into thin air after their energy was completely drained, or worse off, captured alive and probably sent to one of the labs Joseph Bertrand III have set up to be used as lab rats."

Alex "Zeus" Mercer: "No wonder why the Corrupted was able to produce specific Immunity traits for any one of our elements so quickly. So if we want to be successful in such an attack, we would have to surprise them by constantly varying our attacks using elements as diverse as possible. CaptainSparklez, did you have an idea how we could achieve this with limited numbers?"

Captain "Fluorine" Sparklez: "We have only united and brought here 19 Individuals so far, 20 if we count on Falcon who could fast travel here when necessary- and two of them are non-unique in the sense of the element they wield for their powers. This means 17, at maximum 19 unique Primary Elements if Falcon could arrive quickly and Shepard finds an unique element in the surrounding environment. Unless we combine our powers together- For example, Carbon and Oxygen makes white-hot burning cinder when ignited and produce freezing-cold dry ice when simply combined. For the 17 basic elements we currently have... we have 131071 different unique combinations that we could use on the Corrupted and their Hive at present- which increase exponentially as we amass more and more team members and therefore, more and more Primary Elements for out team to use."

Steve "Pariah" Nivens: "And for this particular Hive... It looks like that the Biomass on top of it was specifically reinforced to prevent a normal aerial slam attack from being effective for Biomass-based Individuals. However, a stab with a Diamond blade, or burning it with a high-temperature chemical reaction could easily break through the reinforced barrier."

"Once penetrated, simple sharp puncturing attack of heat-based attack won't do much to the Hive's internal Biomass simply due to it's sheer mass. And here is where Poison and Corrosion attacks will be extremely effective- a stream of Fluorine gas or Hydrogen Fluoride, or a soluble salt of Beryllium injected into it's veins, would diffuse quickly across the semi-fluid insides of the Hive, and cause massive necrotic damage to it's structure."

"And after the Hive have been severely weakened and drained by the poison, you, Alex 'Zeus' Mercer and Delsin Rowe, or anyone who can recharge on Biomass or a Component thereof, go and penetrate into the heart of the Hive's structure from the wound made by the first two rows of attack, and use your absorption ability to as much as you could manage- Suck the Hive dry from the inside out. We may have to devise other strategies for attacking the other two Hives inside Empire City, but if we manage to pull this off on the first hit Bertrand won't be able to know what have hit him- and without samples to analyze the Corrupted could not develop resistance toward new elemental attacks, or combinations thereof."

"So let's do it."

Abigail F. Shepard put her hands onto the concrete handrails of the Skyscraper's roof- and a major pert of that roof, alongside with the handrails, was soon gone- absorbed into Shepard's "Element Reserves". Carbon docked himself to the front of Shepard, two massive blades constructed out of Diamond appeared above his arms while Shepard filled the space behind the blades with a large amount of Concrete- almost the entirety of the mass she just absorbed from the roof, creating a massive slab that surrounds their bodies. Shepard soon fall off the top of the skyscraper with Carbon functioning as the leading edge of the massive Guillotine they have constructed around themselves. As Shepard and Carbon accelerated toward the ground from the nearly 150-meter high building, the speed of Carbon's diamond blades reaching 54 meters per second, and the chitinous shell the Hive have developed was effortlessly cut through by the hardest material on earth as Shepard and Carbon struck it on the top.

Trailing Shepard's guillotine blade was CaptainSparklez himself, alongside with Hydrogen and Beryllium. Releasing fluorine gas midair and reacting it with Henry "Proton" Cavendish's hydrogen gas flow, CaptainSparklez accelerated down the hole left from Shepard and Carbon's strike at a pace even faster than gravity, reaching almost 150 meters per second as a mesh of beryllium sponge formed in front of the three, saturated with liquid fluorine and ready to ignite as soon as they penetrated into the hole made by Shepard and Carbon. A massive flash of white light sprays out of the Hive's wounds accompanied with a shower of sparks, Infested Pustules burst open from the massive explosion with burning bits of beryllium and vapors of hydrogen fluoride coming from every opening on the Hive. Eldritch fluids spilled out as the Hive's motion seemingly stopped.

As the Hive shivered and trembled from it's insides being corroded away by the highly toxic and corrosive combustion product of Beryllium in Fluorine, Delsin Rowe and Alex "Zeus" Mercer arrived from their jump down the skyscraper, and punched straight into the nearly pulped tissues of the Hive. Carbon and Hydrogen atoms ripped from the Hive's Insides by Laurent "Universal" Lavoisier and Henry "Proton" Cavendish, while the rest absorbed and consumed by Delsin Rowe, Abigail F. Shepard and Alex "Zeus" Mercer. Nitrogen and Oxygen gas, left behind from the absorption process, bloats the exterior of the Hive, while the internal structure of the Hive shriveled and collapsed as it's Biomass disintegrates and flows into the Type II Conduits that have invaded it's inside.

The skin, being what's left of the Hive, expands under extreme pressure until it can no longer hold the bulging gasses generated from it's Consumption from within, flames and steam shot out of the wounds and orifices on the skin as the left-over Biomass burns in the oxygen-rich internal environment, until the entire thing tore open like a popped balloon- a large fireball erupts from where used to be one of the three Corrupted Hives in the Empire City, and bits of what used to be the Hive's biomass splat everywhere, and the strike team that have executed the attack flawlessly, jumped out from the fireball, comic book style, and landed onto the Corrupted-filled streets.

Trailing behind Delsin, Fluorine, Zeus and Shepard's strike team, Magnesium, Sodium, Neon, Trace, Pariah, Richard, Tenebris, Oxygen, Lithium, Nitrogen and Boron each slammed against the biggest horde of Corrupted they could find, and broken limbs of Ravagers, shredded fragments of Spikers and skin pieces of pre-detonated Gasbags soon started to fly together with showers of burning metal, balls of green flames and clouds of ionized plasma. Also, don't forget to add in hard light and tangible darkness, solid data and stretchy, glowing gas as the more "Normal" members of Delsin and Majestic Twelve's team have also participated in the attack.

Joseph "Luminous" Black: "Hey Sodium, do you wonder what will happen if you drain all the electrolytes from a living animal, for example, that Corrupted Devourer?"

Luminous and Volatile docked to each other, facing side by side toward a large Devourer that was going toward their general direction- And a stream of whitish, liquefied metals- a Deep Eutectic Alloy of sodium and magnesium, is ripped out from the Devourer and entered the duo's bodies. Without two of the most critical ions inside it's body fluids, the Devourer first fell to the ground and start to tremble at it's bioelectric processes are disrupted beyond recovery, then blisters appeared on the pale purplish-gray skin of the Corrupted monster, before the entire thing just melted down and exploded into a large pool of corrosive fluids- While Sodium Chloride is Table Salt and Magnesium Sulphate are bath salts, Pure Chlorine is a War Gas and pure Sulfate (technically sulfur peroxide (SO2)O2 ) is Piranha Solution anhydrous. Neither plays nice against biological tissue, which explained the subsequent total dissolution of the Devourer as it's content of sodium and magnesium ions are drained.

Humphry "Volatile" Davy: "That was unexpected- And I think we just pulled a vampire on these biological organisms." The optical emissions of Luminous and Volatile seemed to _Redshift _a little as the yellowish-green goop that used to be the Devourer starts to drain into the sewers on the side of the road.

Delsin: "We had more work to do- there were two other Hives out their in Empire City."

Sparks flies just as flames roars, tendrils jets out with hard light and tangible darkness, Delsin's Team cooperated with the Majestic Twelve, and the Empire City was soon cleared of the Corrupted presence and threat.

And Delsin and The Majestic Twelve's success against the Corrupted in Empire City was not unheard of by the other Type II Conduits in the other parts of the United States, especially the Red Zone. After realizing that the larger forms of the Corrupted, especially the Hives, can only be defeated via the combination of different elemental attacks and the resulting chemical reactions, one after one, major Corrupted presence in the Yellow Zone was eradicated. The massive burst of elemental energy coming from the battles caused the Conduit-Positives within the Yellow Zone to awaken- And city by city, what used to be reserves of the Corrupted turned against them as the virus within them are no longer subvertible by the forces of Joseph Bertrand III and the Corrupted in general.

The tides have been turned- And as more and more of the Corrupted sent out from the Blue Zone was eradicated by the factorially increasing amounts and variations of Type II powers and elements from New Conduitkind awakening their brethren in the Yellow Zone and uniting across the United States, not even the Blue Zone was safe from the march of the rest of the United States against the Bertrand Government.

**Excerpt from a propaganda billboard in Washington D.C. Blue Zone**

Conduitism: A disease that subverts the divine plan of Nature

Do you heard about Vampires? Or Werewolves? Or Zombies? Well, they are all the manifestations of Conduitism- A contagious disease that deviates the human body from the perfect plan of Nature.

REPORT potential Conduits!

Early symptoms of Conduitism:

Individuals affected with early stages of Conduitism generally display an increase in sensory acuity- Including the ability of distinguishing subtle differences in the wavelength of light, and a likewise increase in the ability to perceive moving things. A sensory acuity test is available below- Check your neighbors for abnormality once per day, and report anyone with a score higher than 110.

Medium-stage symptoms of Conduitism:

As the infection progresses, Individuals that are affected with Conduitism can become physically tougher and more resistant toward damage, and their physical strength may increase as more and more of their biological tissue is mutated and converted into supernatural materials. A needle test is to be conducted every 3 days on every individual- Anyone caught with skin strength exceeding 30MPa, or with skin that can not be penetrated with a #15 lancet over 1N of applied force should be immediately detained as being potential Conduits/Bioterrorists.

In it's late stages, Conduitism completely corrupts the individual, take away his/her genome and soul in exchange for otherworldly powers that furthers the disease and corruption- All suspected Conduits, or individuals with Supernatural abilities, should be arrested and detained immediately upon detection- While other diseases corrupts the body, Conduitism corrupts the very being of the soul, replacing the affected individual with a mockery of the original composed of necromantically animated supernatural elements that specific Conduit is affiliated with. Depriving the victim chance for Afterlife and turn what's left of the victim against our perfect society. Active Conduits are NOT the persons they used to be before they are infected- Bullets and earthly weapons does not work against Conduits, so a direct report to the Department of Natural Protection is the only way one could be neutralized!

**Mass Effect- Origins**

**Mar 1****st**** 2021**

Toronto and Mexico City Outbreaks happened- sending more then 10000 runners across the Globe, jump-starting the transmission process of Type II Conduits toward the other parts of the world.

**Mar 15****th**** 2021**

The last of the Corrupted outside of the Blue Zone was eradicated as the number of active Type II Conduits reached over 256 million in total. Runners of certain elements cross the Panamas canal using some variants of Fast Travel- Transforming into their elements (should the element being volatile) in order to move above the water-filled canal rather than through it.

**Apr 4****th**** 2021**

Type II Runners cross the Bering Strait from Alaska to Siberia, spreading the Conduit Virus to Asia as certain small towns of Slavs are converted (albeit at a relatively short rate). Rumors about the emergence of Individuals that could manipulate ice, but this is yet to be confirmed since it have been confirmed that all Type II Conduits reacted violently with water, and Ice being the solid state of it should not appear as their element of power.

**Apr 9****th**** 2021**

The presence of Individuals that can manipulate cold things, or Cryokinetics, have been confirmed by a Canadian American Ex-CNN reporter Sarah "Flyby" Connor in her latest visit to Siberia. It was later found out that the element of Cryokinetics was not Ice or Solid Water, but cold temperatures itself- They gain energy from objects that are colder then themselves and are capable of lowering the temperatures of other objects by expending such energy. Despite also being resistant to cold temperatures, Cryokinetics ironically need a source of heat to continuously "Recharge" from cold things as their own temperature is lowered as they "absorb" coldness and will need to be warmed up before more of it can be used as energy.

**Jun 2****nd**** 2021**

Xin "Seared" Lung, one of the first Created Individuals in Eurasia, developed the ability to control hot things- The exact opposite of Cryokinesis. Again, the first Pyrokinetics were thought of as being able to control the substance of fire... Until more thorough analysis revealed that they, again, manipulate High Temperatures itself- Absorbing energy from things hotter than themselves, and can use it to raise the temperature of other objects. Pyrokinetics are known to be immune to high temperatures- From fire, lava, to the sun itself.

**Aug 18****th**** 2021**

Conduit Virus reached India. As one of the major population centers in the world, whatever resistance their governmental forces could put out was quickly overwhelmed as the converted population insisted that their newly found powers over the elements was a blessing from their deities- Deities that are not part of the state-approved religion. Propaganda against them did nothing, and military weapons did little in stopping something that constantly regenerates themselves as long as they are on the ground/in the air/near a building, and could take in tank shells without even staggering as long as they have enough energy (which can be replanished quickly and easily).

**Aug 25****th**** 2021**

Ray Field Manipulator technology reached another breakthrough in Seattle- By reusing part of the code involved in the Conjugation process to compress and store elemental energy in a location outside of the Type II Conduit himself/herself, a form of external storage for elements are now possible- Allowing Type II Conduits that have unlocked this mutation to carry thousands of tons of elements in a trail of "wagons" behind them. Or to create remote-controlled or VI-driven, animated manifestations of one's element that can perform tasks independent to the Individual himself/herself.

**Dec 16****th**** 2021**

Conduit Virus reach nearly the entire world- All population centers, except for secluded locations like some islands, the poles or the Blue Zone in Eastern United States, have been caught in at least one Outbreak and converted to one of the super-powered viral entities that roams the land. And as the rest of the world's population recovered from the Rampancy and finished experimenting on their new-found powers, the obsolete orders of the old world have been shattered and swept under the rubble piles of the past, while new orders have emerged from the Ashes. Of CALAMITY.


End file.
